Its success paved the way for another milestone in Taylor’s early career. At age 12, she landed the role of Velvet Brown in National Velvet, alongside Mickey Rooney and Angela Lansbury. Released in December 1944, it grossed almost $6 million worldwide, making it one of MGM’s top films of that period. Taylor signed a new contract with the studio, though she later complained about how she was treated by its head, Louis B. Mayer.
At the same time, her father was both astonished by and jealous of his teenage daughter’s success. An alcoholic and physically abusive, on one occasion he punched her in the jaw, and for the rest of her life, she suffered from TMJ, or lockjaw. Andersen Brower writes, “She explained it away—as she always had—saying that her father was embarrassed that Taylor was the breadwinner of the family and that he felt emasculated.”
